Description

French text and captions. The first aerodrome ever designed as such, with all the facilities offered to aviators, was born 100 years ago in Viry-Châtillon. There, visionaries decided to free themselves from the contingencies they encountered in their tests on the fields of maneuvers or other fields of opportunity. Gathered in the Aviation Encouragement Society, they decided to create Port-Aviation. A world first.

Port-Aviation was created so that France would have a setting to spread its wings. Throughout the years of the Belle Epoque, this mythical place was a melting pot, a breeding ground for aeronautics. A “Parisian” place where you had to be seen during major events, above all a privileged place for meetings and experiments, the scene of countless technical or glorious exploits. Each flight was then a feat! Designers, engineers, researchers, inventors, pilots and mechanics have written, in the same spirit, the epic of the rich hours of Port-Aviation.

It is the story of these men (some will become famous, others will remain totally unknown), from diverse backgrounds but all out of the ordinary and moved by the same spirit of conquest that this book describes. The reader will discover, with the help of a rich iconography, the astonishing trajectories, the magnificent destinies and the prodigious achievements of these pioneers of Port-Aviation.